Clara turns 13 months old!
In a few days Clara will turn 13 months old! She can say mama and
dada but her favorite thing to say is "what's that" and "who's that?"
She seems to have favorite objects she inquires after: the fan, any
and all shoes, Picaso, and a painting Jason recently framed. A friend
swears they heard her say "Dora" and "Clara" but that's about it for
now. She understands a fair amount, almost any instruction (like
"let's clean up, lift up your hands," etc).
Today was her first haircut, trimming her bangs and a little off the
back to even out her hair. She wasn't thrilled, but didn't cry too
much. She's been much better in her gym class--no longer cries at the
parachute but laughs. She is standing for several seconds at a time
but hasn't taken her first steps yet. (phew!) She loves to be around
people and will tap perfect strangers sitting next to her at church
and smile at them waiting for them to smile back. She seems to be
more dependent on her blanket which she likes to take with her all
over the house (she's not allowed to hold it at meal times!)
We no longer need the food mill as she can eat anything we eat without
much special preparation (I still mix spicer foods (like Jason's
Indian cooking) with boiled sweet potato to reduce some of the spice.
She'll use a spoon correctly if she wants too (or sometimes she'll
look right at you while she dumps the contents on her tray!) She
likes to sort out her food, separating the cheerios from the yogurt
melts. She has successfully transitioned to cow's milk and drinks
about 16 to 24 oz per day. She has six teeth (four on top and two on
bottom), the top four seem to be coming in at the same time so she is
often chewing on something. She still uses a bottle at nap time and
bedtime but is able to use a cup with a straw to drink water (we'll
have to start working on taking the bottle away, yikes!).
She likes to imitate us more than ever. If I'm reading, she wants to
be reading. She likes turning the pages in her books and "reading" on
her own. She has tried to help Jason swiffer. She has learned to
unzip her clothing (convienant when she gets too warm she can take care of
her own jacket!) and takes off her socks and shoes (and tries to put
her shoes back on but this is a little too challenging) leading to a
lot of missing socks!
I'm excited and nervous looking forward to her first steps. It may be
another month or two, we'll have to wait and see! Any advice on
weaning off the bottle would be appreciated :)
